to death's other Kingdom
by pSilence
Summary: Zombie!AU. Rin learns the hard way that zombie apocalypses don't take kindly to survivors, no matter how fast they can run. After all, the faster you run, the faster you leave everything behind.
1. One

_A/N: word of warning for infrequent updates and stuff, the usual. This is more a test piece and if I like it I'll continue. At least, there'll be around three chapters. At most, probably more. I hope I can deliver. _

* * *

"Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them."

_-George Elliot_

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Three weeks.

Three weeks, and Rin thinks she is extraordinarily lucky to be alive. Thank god she's good at running, good at squeezing through places more fierce and violent adults can't get through.

Three weeks since her life became, in every sense of the word, a living hell.

Her heart pounds so fast in her chest she's sure something is going to give way any moment. Her rib cage, maybe, or her spine. A long, drawn out, rattling moan fills the air. Her fists clench. There's a scraping sound on the pavement.

Just around the corner, Rin knows there are at least a dozen of them.

Zombies.

Pulling her jacket over her neck, she dodges back into the shadows of an alleyway overlooking the desolate street. She needs to get into that store - there might not be another one for ages, and she's hungry. Now.

But how...?

Rin falls back against the wall, ignoring the slime against her back. It sticks to her palms. Her stomach growls. She hasn't eaten anything decent for days, not since she was split up from... Hanayo, and her family.

Slowly, she sinks to the floor, biting her tongue. Her hands still feel sticky, and she rubs them off on her shoe but she can't get rid of that horrid feeling in her stomach. She shouldn't have come back into town. She'd made many mistakes in her life but this was the worst one. And why? Because she'd thought that, somehow, despite all odds, she'd find someone she knew? Someone she knew that was alive? There was no way that would be possible!

Even though she tells herself that, Rin can't help but hope, as minute as it is.

There's something on her shoe.

It doesn't register at first, until it clicks. Blood. That's blood on her shoe. And her hands. And she's not alone in that alleyway.

Rin jumps to her feet with more noise than she'd hoped for and winces. The wall behind her is caked with blood, only semi-dry. A shape rises from the seemingly empty bags of trash pushed to the end of the alley. Zombies?

There's no time to figure out. She runs.

Across the empty road, Rin is but a flash. She was always good at short distance sprints. Maybe it was the adrenaline. She's on the other side, and there's only walls and walls of houses.

Where to go.

Where to go?!

She decides to go left, away from the convenience store, to uncertainty and possibly safety. Up here there is a staircase. Zombies can't climb staircases so well. She runs. It's just like back when she was in Muse, except it's nothing like it at all because there were never zombies back then. But there were stairs.

Rin stops running when she remembers that there are more than just a dozen zombies in the city, not to mention other survivors. Making a wild, last sprint across the car park, she slides in between a (badly) parked moving van and the corner fence. There's not as much space behind it as she would have liked. In fact, there's not much space at all - the van completely blocks off all access points except the way she came in. She's sweating so hard she gets the chills. Her hand unconsciously grabs at her knee.

Is she safe?

Her breathing evens out eventually, and stops drowning out the low-key shuffle from the other side of this van. It comes to her attention that the only fast way out is over the fence behind her, but that leads to a main road, and probably danger. Over the van, Rin can barely see the overhead bridge, where zombies slowly patrol, shambling. Shuffling.

The sounds grow louder, the crunching underfoot changes texture and back again.

She's screwed. She messed it up again, and this time it'll be her last. Screwing her eyes shut tight, Rin keels over, clutching at her stomach as it protests. She needs to eat, but she feels like she's going to be sick. The smell of blood is thick. Too thick. Everyone's dead. They're dead. Rin's dead, too.

Except she's not, and when she opens her eyes, nothing has changed. The shuffling, too, has stopped.

"Thanks," she murmurs under her breath, which she didn't know she'd been holding. Who was she thanking? Whoever would listen. God, maybe.

Waiting one more minute, and unable to wait any more, Rin steps out from behind the van, testing the surroundings. It's completely empty all the way up the fence, back whence she came, unreasonably so. Another step. And now, a quick scan to the right before -

Snap.

The face whips up to meet hers and Rin nearly screams but it dies in her throat as a whimper. Her feet are glued to the ground. Blood. Her footprints! Noise.

Zombie. It's a zombie. It's got dead eyes and a gaunt pale face and blood over it's mouth and nose.

But that's not it.

Rin tries to run but all that occurs is a small squeak. She's going to pass out.

It's not moving any closer, it's mouth is still hung open in a wordless, soundless moan, and it's looking right at her.

No. No, this can't be happening. Rin feels her hope die in a wave of terror and dread.

It's Maki.


	2. Fading

**please tell me if you find any mistakes, as usual, or if something doesn't sit quite right.**

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The TV is on when Rin comes downstairs. That's not strange in itself, but what shows on the screen, is.

"Da…d?" Her voice breaks mid-word, feet frozen to the spot as her parents turn to face her. Mother doesn't look well. _Mother doesn't look well._

Suddenly, mother's face contorts right into a snarl, lunges at her, teeth bared, smelling like death, and Rin _runs_, she runs so far away she'll never come back and she's ashamed…

_Snrk._

Rin snaps out of her daze with a jolt. Not sleep – she doesn't sleep, not anymore. And yet she still has nightmares.

There's something outside the door.

It's been two weeks (how has it only been two weeks?) and Rin is so cold and tired. Her joints are stiff. She can't afford stiff joints and sore muscles, not now, or ever.

"Hanayo," she hisses under her breath, trying to wake her friend up from an enviously peaceful slumber, "Hanayo! There's…"

A gunshot. There's a gunshot, which startles both girls wide awake despite the time of night. Neither of them carry guns, and Hanayo's father certainly never does, bless his soul. So who's…?

Another gunshot. Louder. It deafens them both for a moment. The air is thick with noise and smoke and something unmistakeable yet unidentifiable. They huddle together for a moment, and Rin can't tell who's shivering more. Hanayo is so small. She's so thin. Nothing bad should ever happen to her.

"W-we have to get out of here…" Hanayo whispers in a voice so thin Rin is beginning to doubt she's even there at all. With a nod, Rin grabs her wrist and staggers to her feet.

"The vents," she jerks her head back and they move backwards together, before the door is kicked down rather loudly and violently. Hanayo screams, maybe Rin does too, she can't tell, all she's focused on is that _gun_. The man in the doorway gives pause, lowering the massive thing to the ground, but it doesn't soothe Rin's nerves. He's wearing a flak vest with '_Police_' written on it, though somehow, Rin doesn't believe he was ever on the force. There's a spray of blood on his uniform.

"… Oi, Sakamoto. Kids."

Hanayo's fallen to the ground again but Rin is so paralysed with fear and adrenaline that she barely notices. Gunshots. Gunmen. Survivors. She thought they were safe. They were supposed to be safe. Together, her and Hanayo's family had barricaded off as many roads as they could. They were supposed to survive for at least another few weeks, until they could figure out a way to get to Otonokizaka.

She was supposed to find her friends.

Another man has stepped into the doorway behind the first. He's older and greyer but taller and wider. He's scary.

"Nakajima, who're these?" He says to Nakajima, who responds by waving his gun around rather haphazardly. Rin flinches.

"Kids," Nakajima says again, "must be that guy's. What'll ya do with 'em?"

That guy…? Rin scrunches her face, trying to make sense of the situation past the fog of her brain.

"… Orders-"

"Oh fuck your orders." Nakajima steps forward, Rin and Hanayo scramble back two. He clears his throat and lowers his gun right down. "You kids, you got a licence to be here?"

"Licence…?" Rin repeats, absolutely bewildered. They were just staying in their home! Hanayo's home! What would they need a licence for?

Nakajima senses the confusion. "You're in protected borders now, kid. Barricades gone up, an' you need a licence and a full check-up before you're allowed to stay here. You got one?"

Rin can't move. Suddenly every joint in her body feels like lead. Her brain feels like soup. Sweat slicks her palms. Is she sick? Where is Hanayo – there. Where is her dad? Her mum?

"N-no, we don't…" Hanayo squeaks, shaking. "We didn't know-"

"Too bad, kid." The tone in Nakajima's voice sends a chill down Rin's spine. She shouldn't have been so careless. She was always so careless. A screw-up.

Nya, she thinks, and the thought is oddly out of place.

"Nakajima," It's the older man, now, "shoot them down-"

What.

"-They're kids, Sakamoto. I- can't. They're alone. It ain't the law to shoot a kid. I'll get them outta here."

"They'll die on their own."

"So be it."

Rin can't help but sob tearlessly as her and Hanayo are taken jarringly by the shoulder and marched outside. Nakajima is not gentle. Hanayo cries openly for the first time in days.

To her left, Rin sees the sprawled out bodies of the Koizumi family. A woman in a flak jacket searches their pockets while Nakajima pushes her into the starlit night.

They're blindfolded, loaded onto the back of a truck.

It's daybreak when they finally reach their destination.

"Blindfolds off!"

Rin is blinded for a moment by the rising sun, but she has to adjust as she's pushed towards the ground. Hanayo makes a brave effort not to cry out, and Rin is by her side in an instant. The engine hums again, louder than Rin remembers, for some reason.

Nakajima gives them both a glance that's almost apologetic. Rin blankly stares back.

The truck drives off, with three people pointing their guns in various directions, until it disappears. Everything is quiet. Everything is quiet and they are alone.

"Rin…" Hanayo coughs, doubling over. She's pale.

"Sh," Rin rubs up and down her back and she's sure her tremors can be felt even through the cloth. Hanayo's breath rattles in her chest. Her glasses are gone. When did that happen?

Rin straightens and takes note of their surroundings. A train station. Rin's never been here before. It's on a slight hill overlooking an unfamiliar part of town. Off in the distance, there's smoke. Everything is still.

How could this happen?

Hanayo starts to cry again, uncontrollably, and Rin holds her, too numb and shocked to do anything else.

"I'm sorry, Kayo-chin…" It's the only thing Rin can think to say. She feels so useless.

_She's ruined everything._

The sun is properly in the sky by the time they awaken (had they fallen asleep? How risky) and Rin's stomach growls. She makes a flat little joke about something or other – neither of them are listening, but it feels better.

Rin decides to raid the vending machines for food and a can of coffee with a bit of change they find lying around, and the rest of Rin's savings she'd been hiding in her pocket. A packet of chips each, and they share the coffee. It's a little better, but not much.

"Let's check everywhere else, there might be some stuff lying around," Rin suggests, trying to keep that smile there. Hanayo looks unsure, so Rin pulls her across the train tracks, faltering only slightly at the sight of something staggering down the train tracks. It's facing away from them, but it's still terrifying. "C- come on, it's not like… anyone else is going to use it…"

She's only just aware of how terrible that sounds.

The bathrooms are empty but still clean so they make use of them before scouring the rest of the station. One particular door has been torn right off the hinges, and it makes both of them pause. But it's empty on the other side, though it looks as if a tornado has swept right through and overturned everything.

Rin notices a dead body on the ground and tries her hardest to swallow down her fear. It's missing the legs. There's a tail of bloody entrails. It's still twitching.

"Um, let's move on," she says, touching Hanayo on the shoulder. Hanayo seems frozen for a moment before breaking out into another fit of coughing. Oh dear.

By the time they've scoured the place, and found nothing but dirt and blood and a broken phone, the zombie down the train tracks is gone. Safety? Or uncertainty?

At least following the track is easy enough. It's mindless. Up ahead, Rin sees a derailed train. It's still partially on the tracks, and is turned sideways. There's a bloody handprint on the side, she can see as they approach.

It's empty inside. Probably already been looted. There is an empty pistol, though, and Rin takes it despite Hanayo's wary glance. She doesn't know how to use pistols, anyway, but it's pretty heavy. It feels secure and safe in the deep pockets of her pants.

They're off again, but this time Hanayo insists they stay off the tracks, just in case there are people nearby. Rin hadn't thought of that.

"Thank goodness I've still got Kayo-chin around!" Rin says, stepping a little closer and over an oddly nourished tuft of grass. Hanayo looks about in tears. Rin shuts up.

They manage to squeeze through a gap in a chain-linked fence, into a supermarket car park. Zombies are scattered over the open area, and the windows to the building have been smashed into. Rin hopes they aren't too late.

She forces her friend to keep up the pace as they trace along the very edges of the fence, just like Hanayo's dad said. So long as they don't make any noise, and they move slowly, they should be fine. Rin was never one for moving slowly. She has to get into the supermarket before she's driven crazy, before they're caught and eaten…

Rin ducks across a gap behind a car and motions for Hanayo to follow, but she's too timid and she's shaking and are the zombies getting closer or is that just her?

With a thumping heart, Rin darts out and catches Hanayo on the arm, _freezes_ when she hears a moan.

"Run!" She urges, not letting Hanayo even think about lagging behind. The feet pound loudly on the pavement. It's too loud. They have to run faster. Faster.

The door's locked. She should have expected it. She should have thought before she acted. Hanayo whimpers, and Rin turns around. There's no imminent danger, but some of the brighter zombies are meandering their way. They've been spotted.

"Window," Hanayo nods, and they climb through the broken window. Hanayo goes first. Rin is right behind her and scrapes her arm on the glass in her haste. It bleeds, in little droplets of red, and Rin hardly takes notice. They scramble together through the overturned supermarket, and there are aisles completely overturned, and three over in the corner in a makeshift barricade. A good place to hide. Or, it should have been.

Think. Think! Rin _can't_ think. Rin's not the thinker. She's the runner. She's the comic relief, she's Kayo-chin's best friend, she's about to be _eaten_ in a supermarket.

There's a scraping sound. Rin starts. But it's no zombie, it's Hanayo, weedy little Hanayo, putting every ounce of her strength into the back of one of those portable shelves. The zombie outside moans and it's so close that Rin has no choice but to follow the lead. Together they push it in front of the open window, and it feels… safe. _Safer_.

"Thanks, Kayo-chin!" Rin beams with a shaky thumbs-up, and Hanayo promptly falls to the floor in exhaustion. "N- no, Kayo-chin, you can't sleep here, we have to… We have to go further in…!"

"Rin…" Says Hanayo blearily, "you're bleeding…"

Rin looks down at her arm. "… So I am. But this isn't me, you can't stay here, it's not…"

There's a zombie right outside, now. Hopefully it won't figure out how to climb through the window and then push aside the shelf. It's not a big shelf. Rin can see the hair of the zombie on the other side.

"… Safe. It's not safe. Hanayo, we have to get out of here."

Hanayo nods slightly, and Rin helps her off the ground. Her arm looks a lot worse than it feels. Her stomach hurts. So does her throat. They haven't eaten since this morning.

Together they stumble back into the heart of the building. It looks like the place has been thoroughly raided already. There's not much left, but there are a few out-of-date fruit bars, a tin of something slimy, and a small bag of rice under a pile of rubbish. Rin gives Hanayo the rice.

The sounds of zombies groaning and shuffling aren't really the best to build a high spirit, but Rin tries anyway. She tries to talk about what will happen when they escape. Nozomi's probably already got a shelter prepared, she says, maybe Maki's mansion is safe, too. Umi's good with the bow, isn't she? She's probably kicking zombie butt! Hanayo doesn't respond. She just sits there, nibbling occasionally. She's dead, not on the outside, but on the inside.

Rin finds it very easy to blame that man, Nakajima, and his friends. Surprisingly easy. She's got to release all this pent up anxiety somehow. She can't run forever.

Hanayo looks up, but she doesn't meet Rin's eyes. It's unnerving, now that she thinks of it. "Do you think they… Do you think they… It was q- quick?"

Rin doesn't have an answer, so she sits there in silence and feels the wetness against her shirt where Hanayo leans against her.

Two weeks is a lot of time, she thinks, in a zombie apocalypse.

* * *

**word count, 2222.**

**zombies based on a mix of twd and dayz. stupid, slow sometimes, really really dumb.**


	3. Wounds

**Foul language etc below. Also, more ocs. I apologise - they won't appear again. Also in case I didn't make it clear this chapter follows on from the last - I was going to have it be one chapter but it got long. Next chapter will follow the present from the first chapter again - does that make sense? **

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It's sunset by the time they manage to find enough bandage left in the supermarket to wrap up Rin's arm. She protests at first, but Hanayo is pretty persistent. She doesn't say anything, but Rin feels perhaps now is not the right time to say anything.

There's nothing much else inside, but behind the barricade of shelves there's a dead body. Rin pulls Hanayo back and loots the body by herself. It feels wrong. It smells. It's worse when she realises the woman bled out from a gunshot to the leg. There's no other wounds on her person.

So, humanity has come to the point of needlessly killing each other, she thinks, as she whispers a silent sorry and takes the gloves and leather jacket off the corpse. Inside a pocket of the jacket is a small torch, still working, and a packet of gum.

"Take it," Rin offer Hanayo the jacket. For protection. Hanayo makes no move to resist as Rin slides the sleeves over her arms. "There! It should… It should protect you, a little."

"… Did you have to?" Hanayo asks suddenly, catching Rin off-guard. She looks away as she slips the gloves on her hands. Too big, but warm.

"Sometimes you gotta… Do stuff. Like that. Come on, we need to check the groceries."

Looks like the raiders trashed this area, too. In fact, there's an open door just around the bend, and a single, lone zombie inside a cramped, hopefully locked, rental store. Rin signals to stay low. They creep across the floor so painstakingly slow Rin wants to scream.

The grocery section clearly once had the emergency shutters lowered, but there's a man-sized hole cut out of the far side. They're in so quickly Rin can't do a headcount of the zombies outside.

Inside the grocery store, it's unnervingly pristine. Comparatively. They do a complete check up every aisle, the ones that still stand, anyway. There's a lot of rotting fruit and meat. It smells like zombie flesh. A sense of paranoia floods her mind.

Between the two of them, though it feels like Hanayo is barely there at all, they manage to find a backpack nestled under the toiletries aisle. It's got a moderate stain of blood on the back, but inside is half a pack of batteries, an empty bottle, a battered walkie-talkie, and a few painkillers. Underneath all that is a bloodstained note. It's folded tightly, and reads, _"ONLY FOR AIDA'S EYES __ONLY__"_ in a tiny, messy scrawl. Rin shoves it in her pocket as an afterthought, her fingers brushing the metal of the empty pistol in reassurance.

"I wonder who Aida is, huh?" Rin says. Hanayo looks down.

"They're already dead…" She says, whisper-soft.

"Huh?"

"… Nothing. Nevermind." Hanayo shakes her head and picks up the pack, handing it to Rin. They make eye contact for the first time since yesterday and Rin feels incredibly guilty all of a sudden.

"Hey…"

The voice is too deep to be Hanayo's, and Rin turns around so violently she nearly knocks her friend over. There's nothing there.

"Hey, you."

Ok, now she is going insane. It's been two weeks and she's already lost her mind. But there's a crackle, _kschhh_, and the voice speaks again, faintly, and as if with great effort.

"Hey, Mizushima, are you there…?"

"Who's Mizushima…?" Rin wonders out loud. She squeaks when the voice answers her.

"Who're you?" It asks, through a crap load of static. Ah. Rin reaches into the pack and pulls out the walkie-talkie. It's on. "Where are you?"

"Uh." Rin stutters for a moment. Humans! Other humans! But somehow, she's not as excited about that as she should be. "I'm here with a friend – the grocery store…"

There's a crackle. Then, "… Damn… Have you… her? Wait, there's…"

It cuts off.

Rin and Hanayo exchange a glance. "W-we should…" Hanayo says. Rin agrees.

After taking what they can (ignoring a suspiciously human shaped mark in a pool of blood near the bread section), and eating what little they think they can stomach, and filling up the bottle at the tap in the employee's bathroom, they start to leave. The walkie-talkie suddenly crackles back to life as they step out the hole.

"… Where are you?"

"J-just outside the grocery store." Rin responds, as quietly as she can. Maybe there's help on the way?

"Ok… Don't… main entrance. There's… of them. Get onto the roof… generator room…"

They cut out again. Rin turns the thing right off. It's too loud. She feels so hyper-alert right now that she's shaking.

The roof. How do they get there? Rin doesn't know this store very well, if at all. There's probably a ladder outside. She doesn't want to go outside. So, plan B? There is no plan B. They'll have to wing it.

There must be another way up. Maybe an emergency staircase, or something?

Hanayo pulls the jacket further over her body, shivering. Rin spares no time, prepared to check every room, every opening. Sure enough, in the central part of the building, littered with bodies and overturned trash cans and chairs and the odd tire, there are at least three zombies loitering around. They look wounded for the most part, but Rin's not dumb enough to go anywhere near them without some sort of working weapon.

That means they're trapped, since the other exit is just across the hall. If she squints, Rin swears she can see an emergency door that, curiously enough, has been opened from the outside. She'll bet that's a staircase to the roof. Hopefully.

It's the only option they've got. Unless they want to wall themselves up in here, though she gets the feeling that could only end badly…

With a deep breath, Rin backs up to the emergency shutters, out of earshot and eyesight of the zombies around the corner. "Ok, Kayo-chin," she starts to say, until she realises Hanayo has not been keeping up. She's standing too close for Rin's liking, too close to danger. She hurriedly (forcefully) takes Hanayo by the shoulder and watches as she flinches and muffles a cry of pain.

"Hanayo," she tries again, "we have to get to the roof. Hanayo, are you listening?" Hanayo nods. "Good. There- there should be help. On the roof. Hanayo listen to me, I don't- I don't want anything happening to you, so stay close, ok? Stay safe."

Rin wipes her eye with the heel of her palm. If only she could laugh everything away, pretend it doesn't exist. But you can't make too much noise when there are zombies just around the corner. You can't just laugh away the grief and loneliness and _despair_.

And she's losing Hanayo. She can feel it. She doesn't want to lose Hanayo. She doesn't want to be alone.

The zombies stand surprisingly erect, upon second glance. Rin feels that heavy, sinking feeling in her stomach. They don't even look _dead_ yet. And they're way too alert to simply sneak past like the ones outside.

Unfortunately, Rin doesn't realise that until too late.

Carefully, so carefully, Rin edges across the furthest edges of the hall, tiptoeing across the mess and she thinks there's a severed arm at one point but she tries her best not to think too hard about it. Hanayo makes a noise. It might have been herself, actually, she isn't too sure. Everything is so tense and suddenly, it snaps. The silence is over. There's a high pitched moan, nearly a wail.

And suddenly Rin's legs refuse to move any more. She falls to the ground, dragging Hanayo down with her, and Hanayo screams faintly as the nearest zombie turns its head around and latches onto them with its dead, glassy eyes. Seen. They've been seen. This was a bad idea. They have to run. She has to run. Why isn't she running?

The walkie-talkie in her bag crackles to life once more with a shout. It's a sharp sound. Probably a word. It snaps Rin out of her daze, and gives them just one second of respite as the zombies startle from the sound. But, she realises as she nearly knocks Hanayo aside in an effort to run, all the other zombies in the immediate vicinity now know where they are.

"… Hello!" Says the voice, as Rin pulls Hanayo towards the door, "are you there!? Repeat, are you there? Are you friendly?"

But there's no time. Rin feels her breath shuttering in her lungs – she hasn't slept well in ages, she's been on her feet all day, she knows Hanayo is the same. She turns her head for a moment as she enters the smashed down door. Something snags at Hanayo's sleeve.

She screams and pulls away. There's a moan. A blank face with blood-stained, gnashing teeth stares back at her as she wrenches Hanayo from the zombie's grip and towards the small, clustered staircase that takes up most of the entirety of this small room. The zombie's grip is strong. Panic.

_**Panic**_.

Without even thinking, Rin pulls out her free hand, takes the empty pistol from her pocket and launches it at the zombie. It hits, smack bang between the eyes. There's no time to celebrate and Rin feels like she's going to be sick.

Hanayo twists her ankle in her haste to get up the stairs. The zombies are relentless. There's another one trying to squeeze past into the doorframe and they're all making the same ungodly, awful noise…

Panting, Rin drags Hanayo up the stairs, heedless to her cries of pain. There's a scuffle behind them but she daren't turn around, not now. Don't turn _don't _turn. Don't _smell_. Her stomach roils.

The walkie-talkie says something again but she can't hear for the pounding of her heart in her ears. Double time. There's something sloppily pounding up the stairs behind them-

A bright burst of light from above. A screech. Rin and Hanayo keep running until there are no stairs left and the fall to the ground outside. Something slams. The door. There's someone else up here.

As quick as she is able, Rin pulls herself to her knees. There's a tattered looking woman standing by the door, with hair that reminds Rin of dried seaweed. She's loading a small revolver.

By her side, Hanayo is reduced to small, gasping breaths. She looks horrible. Rin wishes she could apologise but everything's caught in her throat and her sweat is clouding her vision.

At least they're on the roof.

Something grabs at Rin's hair and yanks it up, and she winces in pain. It's not a zombie, but somehow, Rin finds herself wishing it was. Why are all the live people so cruel?

"Who the fuck are you." The seaweed hair speaks up, as she bolts the door with a rusty metal bar and cocks her gun. Rin swallows hard.

"I said, who the _fuck_ are you!?"

Rin starts to cry. Damn, she's so weak, crying because of that. She thought she was being rescued. The person holding her hair tugs a bit, pulling at her scalp.

"R-Rin, Hoshizora-"

"Where the _fuck_ is Mizushima?!"

Mizushima again. Something clicks, but she can't remember quite what. Everything is blurry, like looking through frosted glass.

"Aida," says a calmer voice, a more familiar voice, "they're just children."

Aida scowls and her face contorts in rage as she glares Rin down. "Nobody is _just a kid_ in a _goddamn zombie apocalypse!_" She all but yells, then suddenly placates herself with a few short breaths. The door budges slightly.

The grip on Rin's hair slackens and she takes the time to look at Hanayo, who is not being constrained in the same way, but has curled in on herself, shaking violently.

"You're all safe, right? No bites?"

Rin looks up at Aida dumbly. For some reason everything is going in one ear and out the other. "N-no…" She whispers at last.

She hopes so.

"… _Fuck_." Aida clutches her head and the person holding Rin's hair lets go entirely. Rin makes no move to pick her chin up. Her head hurts. "_Fucking shit_. Whose idea was this, I'll shoot that mother-"

Rin looks up. There are stars in the sky. She finds herself wondering if she'll ever get to look at the stars again. Maki knows a lot more about the stars than she does. Nozomi probably does, too. She prays that they're all still alive.

Someone hauls Rin to her feet by the armpits. Ow. They pull her chin up to meet them face – it's Aida's friend. Black hair, pale skin, dark eyes, and Rin realises that they were the voice in the walkie-talkie.

"Are you alone?" They ask. Rin garbles a few sounds together before forming words.

"No, uh, I-I'm with Kayo-chin,"

"Other than your friend?"

Rin pauses. "… Yeah."

"Aida, they're alone."

Aida scoffs. "What, you think I can't fucking hear? I told you we shouldn't've helped them. What a load of bullcrap…"

"I'm not about to let children die in a shopping centre because _you_ were selfishly willing to." At this, Aida flinches. "I'm not like those bastards in the freedom corps."

During this exchange, Rin is able to inch closer to Hanayo and help her to her feet. Her face is red and puffy, her eyes are wide. Bloodshot. She is shaking. _Shaking_. They shouldn't have tried this.

Something bangs against the door. It won't hold. Rin's watched enough movies.

"Let's just use the flashbang and get out of here." Dark-hair takes something from a pouch. It doesn't look like a flashbang, but then, Rin wouldn't know. "We've spent way too much time here. It's a lost cause. Mizushima – there's no way we can do another run through. It's not that big a complex."

Bang. The door shudders.

Aida snatches the thing from her companion's hands and throws it off into the carpark. It goes off with a loud noise and smoke. There's no flash. It takes a while, but Rin realises that's supposed to be a distraction. She hopes it's worked. Hanayo's gripping her arm so tightly she can feel it lose circulation.

A metallic clatter comes from behind her – Dark-hair has already taken hold of a propped up ladder and has one foot ready to descend. They pause. "… Aida?"

Aida growls. "Fuck you."

Rin is taken aback by the _venom_ in her voice. She doesn't know what this woman's deal is, but she doesn't want to know. She doesn't want to stay. Neither does Hanayo.

"Mizushima isn't here-"

"_FUCK YOU_!" Aida whips around, aiming her trembling gun at them. "Traitor. _Traitor_. Take the kids and go, fuck you. I hope you _die_."

Well. Rin certainly didn't see this coming. Her foot nearly slips as she follows after Dark-hair. Hanayo limps along after them, she's barely alive herself. Rin's worried. What if there are zombies below them?

She hits the ground so hard it jars. Hanayo follows. Ah. Her ankle. She forgot. The moment she falls back to try and help Hanayo, Dark-hair has a death grip around her forearm. She's locked.

They're not alone. There are some zombies still loitering around the other side of the building, unaffected by the smoke and noise. They all turn at once, a horde of unblinking, bloodshot eyes and bone-chilling screams. It's an incentive.

Dark-hair has a pace even Rin finds difficulty matching, and she can feel Hanayo lagging. Where are they headed? There's just a chain-link fence this way! Wait, they're going to-

"Climb!" Dark-hair orders. There's a distinctly human howl from the roof. Rin blocks it out and concentrates on getting her hands and feet all in the right places. Up. One. Two. Three. They're getting closer, climb faster, harder. _Harder_. Her legs are starting to give way. Her knees buckle. The zombies rattle against the fence.

She hopes Hanayo is with her.

She's at the top now, and so is Dark-hair. They're about to jump down, down to the ground, when there's a loud scream, and a high-pitched gunshot.

"_Die!_ Mato,_ die you son of a bitch! You TRAITOR!_"

Dark-hair falls limply to the ground in a pool of blood. The zombies halt their advance, swarm the body. Everything stops.

Crack. Something sharp grazes over her leg, just under her knee, and Rin falters in her climb, clumsily toppling over the edge. The ground hits her harder than she'd expected.

When she wakes up, she's in the middle of a thorny bush, it's dark, and she's alone. Everything is very quiet, and very, very still. She only knows she's not dead when she crawls out, her leg and arm caked with blood, cuts stinging her face, and sees the shadowy silhouettes of zombie shambling around the car park beyond the fence. There's a bloodied mess on the ground. Aida and Hanayo are nowhere to be seen.

She runs.

* * *

**word count: 2813**

**do not expect another update so soon. I have school and lots of work to do, but hopefully expect it in a fortnight.**


	4. Human

It's Maki.

It's a little hard to see past the gore around her mouth and her strawy hair stuck in her pale eyes but that zombie is Maki.

Rin makes a little noise. She barely notices.

There's a long moment of standoff. They're in a car park, they're alone – but not for long. Panic rears its ugly head and Rin skitters backwards, onto the van, in a moment of desperation. It's so quiet it's _too _quiet. It hasn't been this unnervingly _quiet_ since the train station. Rin traces her eyes up the swollen blue veins up Maki's neck, to her face.

Maki's head lolls.

In an effort to gain purchase, Rin's foot slips right off the windshield and her shoe goes with it, tumbling to the floor with a startling noise. She's falling. She's going to die. The bonnet clips her side on the way down and she lies on the bitumen, humiliated and very afraid. Maki _scrape-step_s closer, blocking off her exits slowly, slowly –

Something small and dark peeks over the fence for the split-test of seconds, and is gone again, but Rin swears it was a face. A survivor. The very thought that she's not the only live person on the earth occurs to her again, filling her with a shot of adrenaline. She takes her shoe – no time to put it on – and makes a mad dash under Maki's limp arm. She feels the back of her neck prickle as something reaches out and misses but a hairs breadth as she passes.

Too close. That was too close.

Rin abandons all attempts at stealth and pounds the pavement as fast as she can, get away, get _away_. She uses the light pole to swing herself around, and as she does, she catches sight of an indeterminate number of slumped, dark shapes down the road behind her.

She runs.

The fence on her left suddenly drops off and she backtracks and dives without second thought through a gap. She's in someone's backyard, now. It's been trashed. She wastes no time in rushing inside and locking the door behind her, only slumping to the ground when she is sure there is nothing following her. It's quiet again.

"Nya…" Rin says, and the word feels unclean in her mouth, unfamiliar. It doesn't help at all like she hoped it would.

Slowly, shakily, Rin brings herself to her feet and looks around. The room has been turned upside down, the TV smashed. Cutlery litters the floor in the small kitchen. She accidentally steps on a used shell. Not zombies, then.

_Nakajima_.

"They trashed the place, huh, Kayo-chin…" Rin breathes, running her finger over the counter. There's a spatter of blood by the hallway. She pales.

Fatigue washes over her, not gently. She collapses against the countertop before she falls over. When was the last time she had a good sleep? The last time she ate? Not for the first time, Rin wishes her pack hadn't been stolen. Was it Hanayo, who took it? Or someone else?

There's nothing in the pantry. The fridge is warm, empty.

Upstairs – Rin found the staircase by accident, but was glad for it – the bath is still full, and she wonders if she has time to at least clean herself a little. She does splash a bit of water onto her face but there's blood and mud caked there that won't come off without a proper scrub. It's better than nothing. She looks up.

The Rin in the cracked mirror on the wall gazes back with hollow eyes. Even if she found her friends, would they recognise her, now? Would she want them to? She looks dead. Three weeks of hell can do that to a person. There are scratches and marks all over her face. She doesn't know how they got there. Her arm! Right!

Carefully, Rin undoes the sloppily wrapped bandage around her arm. No glass, good. It's pretty good, she thinks. Hasn't hurt in days. She shoves the bloody bandage hastily inside a drawer.

Something twangs her nerves and she feels very high-strung as she moves into the next room, probably a bedroom. There's no way there's anything in there. The door's open. Raiders got here first, not zombies. Bedrooms have beds and clothes.

Rin opens the door to a rancour stench but it's nothing particular new. It's dark. The curtains are drawn. Of course the light doesn't work. Opening the door a smidge further reveals half a dead body spread across the ground, hand outstretched as if reaching out in death. But it's still. The legs have been blown off completely. Her hand comes off the door handle sticky.

Looks like she won't be able to sleep here.

It feels wrong to leave the door open so Rin closes it, washes her hand in the opaque water until it stains with copper, and then retches the contents of her empty stomach into the bathtub. Gross. Her knees are shaking. Her brow feels sweaty. "Not good, Kayo-chin…"

The bathroom has a window, and Rin stumbles over to it. It overlooks a cul-de-sac. Empty. But there's movement in a house across the street. Bad. Movement is bad. Try the back door again. Maybe… Maybe all the zombies are just in her imagination and –

_Thud._

There's a very very _very_ familiar sound from downstairs that makes Rin freeze and tear up.

_Thud_.

It's actually sort of rhythmical, if she thinks about it. There'll definitely be another one or else it's just a-

_Thud_.

Zombie. That two-handed, whole body slap against the door is the most intelligent thing a zombie can do and this is it. This is it. She's seen a single zombie break through a door before, out of sheer persistence alone. It was the neighbour's house. She hasn't seen them since.

_Thud_.

Shaking herself off, Rin pauses for a moment, trying to consider whether it would be worth jumping out a two-storey window or not. She decides against it. Her leg already hurts enough, she doesn't need another injury, and the windows look locked shut. Damn. She slides down stairs and tumbles to the floor, and it's so loud. The thuds continue, more sporadically now, as if the zombie has gotten a little bored with throwing itself at the door. She waits, close to the ground. Maybe if she makes no noise, it'll go away. No noise. None at all. Don't _even breathe_, Rin.

One. Two. Three.

_Thud_.

It's not going away…! Rin hears her breath shudder, it must be so loud, so loud. She staggers forwards, half running, half crawling, towards the entrance. The front door, then. There's no choice.

She jiggles the doorknob. It's locked. Why is it locked? Who locked it? Who would lock a door from the inside?

And then it occurs to her that she's trapped herself like a pig in a slaughterhouse, just because she didn't think, because she wanted a _bed_ to sleep in. What an idiot! What would Maki think –

_Thud._

And the door gives way. Rin realises no that she didn't close it properly, and now Maki stands in the doorway, swaying as if getting her balance. Rin didn't notice before, but there's a bloody handprint on Maki's hospital gown. It feels like a horror movie and her stomach just dropped to her feet. Her heart is hammering away in her throat.

"M-Maki…" She pleads. With what? Why is she trying? Her throat cracks and she makes a dash for the door again and under Maki's arm but that trick only works once. She slips on something, a shard of glass, and sprawls by Maki's feet. Face down. She's scraped her cheek and isn't sure whether it's wet from tears or blood. She curls up with a whimper. _Let it be quick_, she prays. She feels a shadow looming over her.

And nothing. Nothing happens. Has her prayer been answered? Might she have time to run? Rin looks up, preparing to run with the last breath of energy she might have left. Maki is still standing there. Limp. Her head is cocked and Rin isn't sure whether that's a conscious action or a result of a damaged neck.

And then, she's sure she imagines it, but Rin thinks she hears Maki open her creaking jaw, and groan out a word. "… R-r…n…"

Or it could have just been a groan. In a flash, Rin shoves herself backwards, reflexes kicking in to save her life for the umpteenth time, and glass cuts into her shoeless foot. Maki steps forward, very deliberately. Terrifying. It's worse, somehow, to see a zombie that should be shambling, stepping so delicately.

"R… in…"

Rin stops, stares. That was – that was Maki's voice. Gurgling, and forced through clenched jaw and loose tongue, but still, unmistakeably…

"Maki…?"

Maki's eyes widen, though Rin's not sure what that gesture should mean. It doesn't look like recognition. She shrugs her shoulder, the shoulder that's been blown off by something or other and has stained the whole arm with shades of brown and red. A hand comes up. Grasping. Clutching. Wavering.

A moment. Two. Rin's heart is still pumping hard and fast and her mind races by so quick she feels numb, but it's different now. For some reason,

she doesn't feel the need to run.

Maybe she's given up.

Or maybe, the way Maki locks onto her gaze with an equal stare is enough to give her hope.

She's still scared. Even when Maki treads (almost with care) closer, Rin starts to think staying here was a bad idea, that maybe Maki is going to eat her after all, and she hopes Hanayo made it, strangely.

That's not to be her last thought, for Maki stops inches away and places a heavy hand on Rin's head. She just leaves it there for a long time, staring off into the distance, maybe thinking, maybe just going through the motions. The feeling lingers even after Maki slips her hand off.

"Maki?" Rin asks, in a voice so broken she hardly recognises it. Maki doesn't say anything and Rin wonders whether this is all just a dream or some cruel prank and vaguely considers that this might all be real. Maki is dead. Maki is dead but she hadn't even got to _die_ yet and Rin isn't sure what's worse.

Is it better to be like every other mindless zombie, or something _almost_ human, but _not quite_?

And a second thought: who killed her? Did Maki remember? Was she thinking? Was she thinking about Rin?

Why couldn't Rin save her?

_Stupid Rin. You can't save anyone. You found your friend but she's dead and you're still all alone_.

She's crying. It's stupid and she's crying but it's not like there's anything else she can do. She's scared and tired and sick and sad, and she's crying. Maki says nothing, does nothing. Rin wipes her face on her sleeve, repelled at the grime that rubs off. They're too close.

"I'm sorry," Rin sniffs, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

A broken record. A fallen star.

There's a sudden low, threatening growl, and Rin jumps out of her skin. Maki wrinkles her nose and bares teeth, turning around to the doorway like a feral animal. Rin realises that Maki isn't quite as she'd originally hoped. But, it's better than nothing.

It's better than nothing.

Rin takes the hint and slips outside the door. Her stomach crunches against itself and growl, inopportunely. Maki lumbers after her, with none of the stealth and finesse Rin had ingrained into herself this past week. It's frustrating. Rin feels bad all those times she messed up with Maki or Eli. They were so patient, then. Though, she supposes the impending threat of death puts a dampener on patience.

Outside the fence, they can see as they approach via the side, there are two zombies milling about, aimlessly. Maki should have been there. So there is something different about her, after all. Rin gives the unresponsive Maki a little smile.

"Quiet, okay?" She holds a finger to her lips, hoping Maki understands. There's no nod, but Maki stares indefinitely, so Rin decides to think positively and say that's a yes.

Quickly, Quietly. Maki is nowhere near is quick or as quiet, and it's heartbreaking to see the graceful idol, the pianist, reduced to a shambling, bloody zombified mess. But the zombies don't seem to react to her. Maybe it's a zombie thing.

Rin doesn't brave going back towards the parking lot, the underpass, and downtown, so they turn the other way. She's getting awfully close to the barricade here, and she knows it, but it's probably safer this way. Humans, or zombies?

She looks back at Maki, lagging behind just a fraction, but surprisingly able to keep up the pace fairly well. They slither behind a drug store and wait.

Humans, or zombies, or Maki? What_ is _Maki?

Rin can't bring herself to touch Maki or go anywhere near her, as much as she wants to, but she does give a little thumbs up, a smile. It's shaky at best. And then she curls up against the wall, and feels her heart constrict with something other than fear and exhaustion, though she is very scared and very, very exhausted.

Rin wishes she could curl into herself and never resurface. Maki just stands there. It's comforting, almost. But Rin still feels like shit. This is far from the romantic dream she had. This is far from any dream she's ever had, even her nightmares.

It's better than nothing.

* * *

_WHAT A TWEEST_

**word count: 2388**


	5. Fraying

**haha surprise update! who knows where this is going anymore i don't**

* * *

They're on the tracks again, and Rin doesn't like it one bit. It's not like she has a choice in the matter, anyway. Maki, for all her mindless following, had quite sternly made her own choice for once. Or at least, she was stumbling ahead for once, head dangerously lolling from side to side, feet scuffing against the concrete railway sleepers. Rin opts for the marginally safe option by walking to the side of the tracks. Even though the trains haven't been running for weeks, it still feels dangerous to walk on them. Every single nerve in her body feels frayed.

Maki doesn't stop. Rin supposes she doesn't need to. Rin needs to stop but she doesn't want to.

Every step sends grinding pains from her knee to her crown.

"Maki…" She calls out softly. Maki hesitates, miraculously. It gives Rin time to roll up her pant leg and look at the wound just below her kneecap. It's still bloody. The mark is small and shallow, somehow, and every time Rin looks at it she thanks her lucky stars that the bullet never entered into her skin more than a graze.

Is it getting infected? Rin doesn't know. She doesn't know how to deal with these sorts of injuries. Maki would know. If only she could speak.

"Maki, do you think it's infected?" She asks, hopelessly. Maki turns at her name but the blank stare gives Rin a pit in her stomach. Oh well. Maybe there are other survivors around with medical supplies. And a friendly disposition. And not likely to shoot at them.

Rin feels the names _Nakajima_ and _Aida_ rise like bile but she swallows it down.

The sun is setting – they've been at it for literal hours. With a sigh, Rin hoists down her pants and continues to walk, barefoot, across cooling concrete. At this point, it wouldn't have mattered whether she was used to walking barefoot before the apocalypse or not. It's such a common occurrence that Rin is sure she has blisters on top of callouses.

She realises she said 'apocalypse' a while back. This really is the end of the world, isn't it?

It's dying.

Rin trains her eyes on Maki's back to try and concentrate. It doesn't work, Rin was never any good at concentrating, but it takes her mind off things for a while. Maki's shoulder hangs on so precariously Rin isn't sure it's going to last much longer. Maybe she should wrap it up so it doesn't fall off.

They've passed the metro a while back, and now it's kind of familiar, but Rin can't place a finger on it. The beach is empty. There's not even any sign of human activity – how far have they walked alongside this blasted railway track?

"Wait," Rin calls, "Maki, wait."

Maki keeps going for a little bit until Rin calls out again and sprints forward to stop her. She groans. Rin decides that it's recognition.

"Wait, we'll…" Rin flicks her eyes back and forth. Empty. "We'll stay here for tonight. You got that? Stay. Here. Nod if you get it."

Maki doesn't nod, but she does move a bit and that jolts her head up and down. Good enough.

It's getting cold on the beach and the sky is bruised purple. The water is still. The air is still. The enclosed little circlet is isolated enough for Rin to feel safe, for one night.

She falls asleep to the gentle caress of the waves on the shore.

Maki stays standing all night.

Her feet.

Her feet are cold when she wakes up with a jolt, and she realises it's the water, licking at her heels in sporadic patterns and making the air frigid and cold. The stars are out.

With a grumble and a groan and sleep-ridden eyelids that slowly unglue themselves, Rin scrambles further up the beach, and into the open area where it feels too vulnerable. A cloud sweeps over the moon, and it goes dark.

_Go back to sleep,_ she tells herself, but now that her eyes are open she doubts she'll be able to any time soon. Instead, she rests her head on her hands and looks up at the sky. Constellations. Stars. They feel cold. Maybe they're dying out, too.

Rin thinks of Kayo-chin, of rice, of glasses, of soft smiles and softer voices. All speaking at once.

"I'm sorry, Kayo-chin…" Her voice cracks and she's holding back tears, now, and her throat feels like it's suddenly constricted three sizes and her eyes burn. She can't say any more.

_I'll never see Kayo-chin again_.

The thought had the weight of a thousand bricks in her brain. She isn't entirely sure what happened to Hanayo, but hopes she is safe and sound, with the backpack and the supplies. Maybe Eli and Maki and Umi were there too.

Wait.

The sand shifts under Rin's elbows as she pushes herself upright. Every single joint protests. This is worse than early morning training.

Maki is gone.

It takes a while to register, and when it does, Rin almost doesn't feel it. Then it hits – tightness, breathing, everything is leaving her, _everything is leaving her_, she's going to live alone and die alone and she _doesn't __**want to she doesn't-**_

Rin tries to move but it feels like she's not even in control of her body. It moves, gasps, and tastes salt from the sea and her eyes. Everything is going wrong.

Her carefully balanced lie snaps like a tendon – _everything will be ok._

Nothing will be ok.

She's not going to find the others.

They're probably already dead, anyway.

Hanayo is dead.

_Maki_ is dead.

And soon, Rin will be dead too, because her knee is infected probably and she's going to starve before she finds any help.

They'll never make it to the Love Live after all.

Tears don't flow – they fuzz your vision first, and then bunch up in the corners of your eyes before breaking and trickling down in a continuous stream and there's snot involved and it all gets in your mouth and makes your tongue stick to the back of your throat. And when you try and cry it all gets stuck, lodged in your throat just behind your tonsils and it feels like it's going to burst out of your oesophagus, but it doesn't and somehow that's a little disappointing.

Rin doesn't even know what an oesophagus is.

And then, when it finally dies down, you look absolutely stupid and you've got hiccups and snot in your ears somehow and there's sand between every fingernail and Maki is standing by the railway –

Wait!

Face still wet with tears, chest still straining to breathe, Rin clambers up the slight slope of the beach on all fours and feels her whole world come back to her.

"_Maki-chan!_" She cries out, throwing herself at Maki's feet. There's fresh blood, but she doesn't mind so much. _Maki_ is _here_.

She's safe.

"Maki, M-Maki, I thought I l-l-lost y-ou…!"

Maki, the impassive, the aloof, stares down with – a hint of a smile? – and Rin gives the biggest, shakiest grin she's given in a very long time. As she pulls herself to her feet, trembling like a leaf, like Kayo-chin, something finally clicks about the place. She was so tired before she didn't realise but it's _really_ familiar.

"… Maki."

There's a faint pink just behind the horizon. It's too late to go to sleep now. Too late. They have to keep moving. They're nearly _there_.

This time, Rin takes the lead. Maki seems quite content to follow now, filmed eyes glazed over in a stare that's far too unintelligent for Maki. It's sad. It makes Rin's heart hurt thinking about it.

So she stops thinking.

It comes to her attention a while later that her legs are on fire and her throat is scratching against itself and her stomach is trying to eat itself and there's something on the tracks up ahead. She nearly stumbles over a body, a dead one, with an arrow shoved viciously into its eye socket. It brings her back to earth. Just in time, Rin ducks behind the support beam of the overhead shelter, before they get too close and the person up ahead sees them. It's another station. The first thing that comes to mind is that they've been going in circles, but this station isn't as well cared for, nor as big, as the last. Maki swaggers to the side dangerously, and then trips over herself trying to follow Rin's nimble movements.

"You're so silly, Maki-chan," she says, even though she know Maki won't respond, because it makes it feel better. Marginally. Maybe one day they'll fix it and Maki will remember all this and – well, anyway.

The person down the tracks doesn't seem to be moving when Rin plucks up the courage to take a peek. In fact, it's bent over something. Rin's heart stops. It straightens, and… it's holding something. It's holding a bow…?

Then it turns around and Rin is quick to duck back into safety, heart hammering in overdrive. Did it see did it see did it see.

Maki lets out a high pitched whine, and twists her neck violently to the side, locked onto the figure in the distance. Rin panics, and tries to shush her, waving her hands about and making exaggerated movements to try and catch Maki's attention. Oops.

She realises, too late, that her wild hand gestures might have caught the attention of whoever was out here as well. She wonders, vaguely, whether it's something about her and train stations that seem to carry bad luck with them, and vows never to follow a railroad again.

Rin is so sure her heart is beating so loud that it shakes the ground.

There's silence. Stillness. Maki is still locked on to something, not moving an inch, but it's still. Are they safe? They're safe. Safe enough.

Rin pokes her head out, and sure enough, the track is all clear until a fair distance down when it starts to turn and is hidden by a hill. They're really far from the town centre, now. That's good – it means less zombies, theoretically.

"Come on, Maki," she hisses, clicking her fingers like one would with a dog to get Maki's attention. Together, they start to leave the little station and towards a little dirt path Rin noticed, and then there's a whistling sound. It's too quick for Rin to decide exactly what it sounded like but it was very familiar. It's accompanied by a loud _thunk_ and Rin automatically freezes. Maki whines again, jaw clacking together in a way that sounds like dice rolling.

Another _whizz-thunk!_ and Rin figures out what it is. A vibrating wooden arrow sticks out of the ground just a foot away from her.

She runs.

There's at least one more arrow shot in her direction, but in the half-light it must be hard to hit a moving target. She decides to make herself even harder to hit by diving to the ground and behind a felled log. She feels the hard dirt graze her arm. Her knee screams as she hits the ground hard and she's sure it's bleeding again. Or still.

Maki isn't quite so smart, or coordinated. Rin watches in horror as one of the deadly arrows buries itself in Maki's thigh with a sound Rin will never forget, and Maki goes down. Rin screams. She thinks she does. It's all rather chaotic and she's not entirely sure what's real and imagined anymore. Of course, Maki is a zombie. She's not dead. She just tries, and fails, to get up again, flailing like a fish out of water. Thick congealed blood dribbles from the wound.

Then, there's a prickling feeling on the back of her neck, and Rin knows she's foolishly left her meagre cover to run to Maki's side but her leg has given way, and she turns around to find someone, a survivor, a _human_, walking towards them. Their bow is taught with another arrow and they bring the bow up. They're going to shoot. _They're going to shoot she's going to die it really isn't ok and it's all her fault._

Then,

"… Rin?"

The person lowers their bow, limply. As they tentatively step closer, Rin can make out, past the boyish short hair, the grime on their face, and the hardened scowl softened in surprise…

She wouldn't have picked it, but there's no other person it could be.

"U… mi?"

* * *

**word: 2090**

**after more train tracks, the plot finally happens. maybe the tracks are symbolic.**


End file.
